After loss to Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays are out of excuses

ST. PETERSBURG — In April, they told us it was a World Series hangover.

In May, they said it was ridiculously early. In June, July and August they said their best baseball was still in front of them.

So what is the excuse now that September has arrived?

Perhaps there isn't one. Perhaps we should just accept that the 2009 Rays are not going to be good enough.

Seriously, at what point has this team given you a legitimate reason to believe? Take away the month of June, and the Rays have been below .500 for the rest of the season. And you're supposed to believe that's a pennant contender?

Technically, the Rays are not anywhere close to being eliminated. They are six games behind the Red Sox with 31 to go, and plenty of other teams have made up more ground in less time. But shouldn't somebody be worried?

"If you've got a pulse, you should," leftfielder Carl Crawford said. "I know we play all the (contending) teams again but we know time is running out. I'm not going to say we should panic right now, but it is time to start winning games if we're going to make a run."

The question is, under what scenario do you see Tampa Bay running down both Texas and Boston in the wild-card race? Do you see the starters turning into Koufax and Drysdale down the stretch? Do you see the hitters cutting down on their strikeouts? Do you see the defense rediscovering its magic from 2008?

In a lot of ways, Tuesday night's 8-4 loss to the Red Sox was a microcosm of the season. The Rays started poorly, hung around to make it interesting but, ultimately, fell short.

And so, at this point, the best reason to have faith is your memory. If you recall the way the Rays played with their backs against the wall in September last season, you might still have some optimism. If you remember the way they consistently won close games, you might have a glimmer of hope.

But after watching the sloppy effort that supposedly passed for pennant race baseball Tuesday night, it is harder than ever to imagine everything coming together in the final month of the season. The pitchers walked six batters and gave up three homers. The hitters struck out 14 times. And the defense? That was the worst of all. Between missed opportunities on double plays, triple plays and every other kind of play, it's not a stretch to say the Rays gave Boston six extra outs in the first six innings.

Honestly, it was pretty weak all the way around. The Rays couldn't pitch, hit, field or manage. And, turns out, the community couldn't be bothered. The announced crowd for what was the most important game yet this season was 17,692.

New rule:

You have to have a ticket stub before you can whine about trading a pitcher with a 5.92 ERA.

"I was a little disappointed, quite frankly, in the numbers. It's a big series," manager Joe Maddon said. "But, once again, those that are there for us are definitely there for us."

I've got no business telling anyone how to spend their money — particularly in this economy — but it seems at least a little hypocritical to complain about the Rays making payroll decisions when the community is not doing much to hold up its end of the bargain.

I know it's the middle of the week, but the Phillies still managed to draw 44,679 on a Tuesday night. The last-place Orioles got more than 25,000. And the Tigers — playing a terrible Cleveland team — still got more than 24,000.

So if you're wondering why the Rays would trade Scott Kazmir when still in the wild-card picture, this crowd was a good indication. A small-revenue team cannot afford to have players making B-plus salaries while performing at D-minus levels, and so the Rays took the opportunity to move Kazmir when the chance presented itself.

And, the way things are looking, that trade is not going to have much impact this season anyway.

Andy Sonnanstine wasn't terribly impressive, but the Rays did not lose because he started in place of Kazmir. You've got no business blaming the starting pitcher when the defense is that bad and the offense leaves 10 runners on base.

In the end, there is no shame in being 11 games above .500, or finishing behind Boston and New York in the AL East. Take away last season, and this would be considered Tampa Bay's finest hour.

The problem is the Rays promised so much more. They behaved as if they could turn the switch whenever they pleased. They insisted they were just a day or two from breaking out.

They convinced us they were better than this.

John Romano can be reached at romano@sptimes.com